SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 4 - N. 47 - 1998 - November - III
From: CIOFS Secretariat
Prot. N. 9/96-02
To National Councils of the SFO
International Councillors of the SFO
Rome, October 4, 1998
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am glad to be able to send you the material regarding the revision of the General Constitutions, which will be discussed at the next General Chapter. In the "General Introduction", which is an integral part of the attached documentation, you will find the instructions for the preparatory work to be done.
Contrary to previous information, I can tell you that the Presidency in its meeting of June 4-11, 1998, has definitively fixed the date and the place of the Chapter. The Chapter will be held in Madrid, Spain, from October 23-31, 1999.
In due time you will receive the formal convocation of the Chapter, with its necessary instructions and information.
Fraternal greetings to all, with good wishes for your work,
Emanuela De Nunzio, SFO
General Minister
1. Background
With a circular letter of 16th January 1995 the process of revision of the Constitutions was begun with the invitation to the National Councils "to formulate definite requests, preferably based on their own experience". The suggestions received were presented to the General Chapter of July 1996 which gave a mandate to the Presidency of CIOFS for the constitution of a suitable Commission with the competence to "draw up the proposed modifications with the alternatives to be considered" and to present them to the Presidency "for its examination and evaluation".
The Presidency, with circular n.1/96-02 of 15th January 1997, advised the constitution, composition and competency of the Commission, as well as the timetable for the work. The Commission presented its work to the Presidency at its meeting of 8 - 14 January 1998. The Presidency, at its meeting of 4 - 11 June 1998 "considered, analysed and completed" the text prepared by the Commission.
2. General Criteria
In drafting the text which it is now sending to you, the Presidency has held to the following criteria:
a. Adherence to common law and to its own law
In some cases the proposals received involve moving away from the Code of Canon Law or from the Rule. Because of this, such proposals cannot be incorporated.
b. Regard for the text of the Constitutions approved in 1990
Many proposals, even those shared and well grounded, imply
merely formal changes of the Constitutions approved on 8th
September 1990. They deal with the reorganisation of the text
within chapters, titles or single articles; reformulation or
merging of articles etc. In these cases, in the absence of
modifications of substance, the Presidency has held back from the
modification of the text:
-- for reasons of principle, as the Constitutions are already
approved by the Holy See and can only be altered if experience has
shown that they are not in accordance with the real needs of the
Order;
-- for practical reasons, as National Councils have published
formation material and other aids based on the actual text.
c. Organizational Flexibility
Other proposals aimed to introduce more rigid formulations than the existing ones, reducing the present spaces for adaptation by referring norms to the particular Statutes. The Presidency considers that flexibility is a fundamental requirement of the diversity of the life of the Order scattered around the world, and of its evolution in time and that this must be safeguarded and possibly widened. In these cases, such proposals have either not been incorporated or have been formulated as alternatives.
d. Cultural and Linguistic Adaptability
Some proposals have resulted from inexact or too literal translations of the standard edition, or come from specific sensibilities to particular terminology. The Presidency considers that such suggestions should not require modification of the standard edition but of the translations.
3. Specific Questions
a. Council and Minister
Many proposals suggested going back to the formulation used in the Rule with regard to Council and Minister as "animators and guides" of the Fraternity at all levels. As a consequence, in all articles, the phrase "Minister with his Council" is substituted by "Council with its Minister". This change has already been incorporated in the proposals. The expression "duly elected" has also been eliminated as pleonastic.
b. International Fraternity
The General Chapters of Mexico (1993) and Rome (1996) have expressly recommended the consideration of the proposals of Brazil and Italy SFO-OFM regarding the structure of the International Fraternity.
The Presidency, while presenting those proposals exactly as formulated, has thought it useful to formulate its own proposal. This proposal incorporates their basic objectives, harmonising those with the General Criteria already explained ( 2.b-c ) and with other specific proposals on particular points from other National Councils.
c. Spiritual Assistance
The Presidency has considered it appropriate to reformulate Articles 85 - 91 on the spiritual and pastoral assistance of the SFO. A suggestion from Brazil and the experience they have had shows that the actual formulation creates a confusion between spiritual assistance and animation. The first is the responsibility of the First Order and the TOR, while the second is that of the secular leaders. The proposal presented by the Presidency defines more clearly the specific responsibilities of the major Superiors of the First Order and the TOR and the ways in which these are exercised.
4. Practical Information
In the text that is being presented to you, we have tried to standardise the formulation of each proposal with its general context and with other proposals on the same topic, if any. Therefore, amendments presented are not in the exact words that the Council or delegate proposed. However, we have always tried to respect to the maximum the spirit and the intention.
While reviewing the whole text of the Constitutions, the Presidency has taken the opportunity to correct typographical errors and to standardise and state precisely some terms used in the standard Italian edition. You will find these corrections in a special list in Italian.
In the documentation, you will find, for each article, the present text as approved in 1990, followed by the suggested changes in the Italian language. In order to facilitate your work, you will also find a translation in the official language of CIOFS that you use.
The material sent to you does not open a new phase of consultation, but will be used directly as a basis for work at the Chapter. Therefore, we ask you to study it carefully so as to give suitable advice to the International Councillor who will represent your Fraternity at the General Chapter. Should you discover that a proposal of yours has not been included, nor come under the General Criteria covered in point 2, please contact the secretariat of CIOFS asking for clarification of the case.